


"It's not late yet; I'm not tired."

by Jem (letalloursingingfollowhim)



Series: “I'm safe, and so are you.” [2]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Angst, Crying, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Nightmares, Sad, eurydice stops taking care of herself, give eurydice a hug, kind of fluffy ending???, orpheus also gets nightmares, wow look angst to combat the fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24214516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letalloursingingfollowhim/pseuds/Jem
Summary: Nightmares have been getting to Eurydice; so she decides not sleeping at all is the better option.
Relationships: Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown)
Series: “I'm safe, and so are you.” [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746667
Kudos: 28





	"It's not late yet; I'm not tired."

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I am tired. I wrote this on no sleep and also edited on no sleep - have fun! I have a bunch of ideas for this AU series which is cool, also means I might be posting quite a lot more fics. :)

The darkness and cold streamed in, waves of it crashing. Freezing cold, especially for spring, a time when the weather was supposed to be getting warmer, when coats were no longer a deeply needed necessity. But it had snowed three days ago - wilting the beautiful flowers from outside and causing a white-grey haze over everything, both inside and out.

The cold was, now, better than the hot, though. The sweltering hot sun brought Eurydice straight back to the depths of Hadestown; her mind found it hard to tell the difference between Underground and Overground when the temperature rose, even if she could physically see where she was. Eurydice rarely voiced how terrified those memories made her, how deeply affected by them she was. Even if Eurydice didn’t voice them, Orpheus could always tell, and he always knew how to calm Eurydice down, even without words.

It wasn’t just the memories and flashbacks which made it increasingly hard for Eurydice to live and breath - it was the dreams - nightmares - too. The seething ones that kept her up, the ones so detailed and realistic that made her wake up in a cold sweat and nauseous, and the abstract ones that left a sour taste of paranoia and anxiety in her mouth once she awoke.

It took a few weeks before Eurydice finally gave into the nightmares, before she finally gave in to the fear and anxiety that writhed deep inside her, before she decided she wouldn’t sleep. It was hard to hide from Orpheus (the same Orpheus who also got racking nightmares that he was strong enough to work through and still find himself going to sleep - Gods, Eurydice felt so weak and selfish for her decisions) at first, hard to find a reason each night that she wasn’t in bed with him, having to find some form of made up work or errand that caused her to go to bed later. Orpheus did have a tendency to go to sleep early, though, something which Eurydice used to her advantage.

She wasn’t questioned by Orpheus at first, there was no point in it, Eurydice had stuff to do, so Orpheus let her do it.

The first night Eurydice hadn’t slept, she felt much better for it. Her mood was elevated tenfold, no longer the cynical and anxious disposition which plagued her. Orpheus had commented on how playful and upbeat she’d seemed, even if her face had lost some of its colour and her eyes had a distinct darkness underneath them.

It was much harder to stay awake the second night. There wasn’t anything to do left - she’d already tidied the house, cooked a meal for the next day, read, wrote. And she was starting to find herself awfully tired. However, the knowledge that she wouldn’t have to be plunged back to Hadestown was enough to keep her awake - that and the freezing cold of an open window in a thinly walled house.

By the sixth night, Eurydice had fallen asleep on Orpheus’ shoulder three times accidentally while standing up, twice on the couch during conversation with Orpheus, and once in bed with Orpheus, finally giving in to the exhaustion that pressed her, causing her body to ache and her mind to go numb and foggy. Eurydice had awoken the night she’d fallen asleep in bed, sweating and shivering, tears running down her face. A nightmare. The damned thing she’d been staying awake for!

Orpheus had calmed her down as he usually did.

“Rydice…?” Was how Orpheus would always start, never getting a reply from Eurydice who would always be too far gone into her fear to reply. Orpheus would then take her in his arms and pull her close to his chest, let her feel the rhythmic beating of his heart. Run his fingers through her hair and make her breath with him. Always a repeat of the mantra, “I’m safe, and so are you.” Orpheus never failed to make Eurydice say it with him, that way it kept her grounded.

Never had Eurydice felt more guilty than on that night (the fifth night which she had been trying to stay awake); guilt had caused her to cry harder as Orpheus held her. He shouldn’t have to do that! Eurydice always considered herself emotionally strong, always having so much fight and determination in her. But that’d hadn’t been so evident recently.

Pulling herself out of contemplation of the past few nights was Orpheus’ voice. He’d already changed out of his day clothes and had a tired smile on his face. “Coming to bed, ‘Rydice?” Orpheus asked, his voice soft, ending with a yawn. He’d barely been able to keep himself awake from the return from Hadestown. While both were plagued with nightmares, Eurydice chose the option of being awake so she didn’t have to experience them, while Orpheus could barely keep himself awake even if he wanted to.

For a reply, Eurydice shook her head. “It’s not late and I’m not tired yet.” She had no other excuse anymore other than telling Orpheus it wasn’t late enough. It’d been late enough a week ago.

Orpheus sighed, tugging gently at Eurydice’s arm to sit down on the bed beside him. The girl hadn’t even gotten into something more comfortable yet, but it wasn’t anything new, Orpheus was always the first one changed. Orpheus gently began to run his fingers through her hair, noticing how dark the shadows under her eyes had become in the past few days. He hadn’t spoken up about how tired and off she seemed, how pale and upset she looked constantly. Orpheus hadn’t wanted to stir anything, but the night before, it seemed to click.

Eurydice hadn’t been sleeping.

“You are tired,” Orpheus replied softly as he felt Eurydice tense in his arms a little. She hated how she’d given in to the exhaustion yesterday, even if she’d only gotten two or so hours of sleep, too afraid to continue her rest after the horrors of her nightmares.

Eurydice tried to suppress the yawn that took hold of her as her eyes closed briefly; closing her eyes plunged her into darkness, warmness encasing her body as she saw the eyes of the workers. Eurydice snapped her eyes open. “I’ll go to bed later.”

“Alright, but I’m staying up too. We can both fall asleep together,” Orpheus replied. He wanted to make sure he saw Eurydice sleep… but he also wanted the feeling of Eurydice cuddling him, it was calming, it was something he missed.

“You don’t need to if you’re tired, love,” Eurydice pushed away from him, not meeting his eyes. Had he realised what she’d been doing?

“Ce, you can’t keep doing this - you haven’t been sleeping.” Orpheus’ shook his head, his heart pounded in his chest, worrying filling him as he spoke.

Eurydice nodded - a reaction Orpheus had not been expecting. She wasn’t one to easily give up what was wrong, especially not after coming back from Hadestown. Her guard was always up. But she was so tired - so exhausted - Eurydice had no other choice than telling Orpheus if she had any chance of sleeping. She hated the feeling of the pressing and weighing exhaustion that sat on top of her, making her bone weary. The occasional stabbing pain in her stomach and head that made her gasp, all being a result from how tired she was.

Eurydice nodded again, this time moving closer into Orpheus. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, resting her head on his shoulder, finally allowing herself to feel the tiredness she had been suppressing without reprimanding herself for it.

Orpheus knew not to ask the specifics of what was wrong (it had taken three separate times and an argument for him to understand never to ask for specifics ), simply he shook his head back at her, kissing her forehead gently. “You don’t need to apologise; you just need to rest for awhile, okay?”

“Don’t want to get into bed, though,” Eurydice hummed, contently closing her eyes on his shoulder, content with shut eyes for the first time in a while. Maybe having Orpheus holding her would help, keep her calm, keep her happy.

Orpheus didn’t complain that they weren’t in bed, hoping only that Eurydice wouldn’t hurt her neck while resting in such an uncomfortable position, once again, still in her day clothes. “You can rest here,” Orpheus half smiled, gently patting his shoulder.

Eurydice didn’t reply, fine with herself feeling the way she was for the first time in a while. It wasn’t long before Eurydice let herself fall into the grasps of sleep, Orpheus gently rubbing her arm and kissing her cheek as she began to sleep. Once he was sure she was asleep, carefully, he moved them both into bed, pulling the few layers of blankets to cover over them. Instead of sleeping straight away, Orpheus took a moment to glance at Eurydice. She was always so calm-looking when she slept, her face soft and painless.

It was a good night for Eurydice. The nightmares not coming on too strong, much to her grateful surprise, and she slept for a good thirteen hours. Orpheus, however, was awoken four hours later, the same way Eurydice usually was - coming down from a nightmare, clammy and tearful. Nights like these, he’d usually wake Eurydice up, hear her voice to calm him down. But he couldn’t wake her up when she looked so content and needed the sleep more than he needed the calming; so instead, he gently kissed her cheek, took a deep breath, and hoped nothing more would plague him as he closed his eyes again.

**Author's Note:**

> Haha angst :)
> 
> -Jem.


End file.
